U.S. patent number 4,090,515 [Application Number 05/764,611] was granted by the patent office on 1978-05-23 for disposable diaper with waist fluid barrier.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Colgate-Palmolive Company. Invention is credited to Hamzeh Karami.
United States Patent |
4,090,515 |
Karami |
May 23, 1978 |
Disposable diaper with waist fluid barrier
Abstract
A disposable diaper comprising, an absorbent pad assembly having
a pair of side edges, and an absorbent pad having a pair of side
edges and a pair of end edges connecting the side edges. The pad
assembly has a fluid impervious backing sheet covering a back
surface of the pad and having at least one end section extending
past one end edge of the pad and defining an end edge of the pad
assembly, with the end section extending between the side edges of
the pad assembly. The pad assembly has a fluid pervious top sheet
covering a front surface of the pad, and a separate segment of
fluid impervious material overlying the end section of the backing
sheet and extending substantially between the side edges of the pad
assembly. The segment extends inwardly from the end edge of the pad
assembly toward the longitudinal center of the diaper and overlies
an end portion of the top sheet and pad adjacent the one end edge
of the pad to prevent leakage from the end of the pad, with the
segment being secured to the underlying portion of the pad assembly
substantially throughout the lateral and longitudinal dimensions of
the segment.
Inventors: |
Karami; Hamzeh (Crystal Lake,
IL) |
Assignee: |
Colgate-Palmolive Company (New
York, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
24544373 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/764,611 |
Filed: |
February 1, 1977 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
|
634578 |
Nov 24, 1975 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
604/370; 604/374;
604/382; 604/375; 604/390 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61F
13/49466 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61F
13/15 (20060101); A61F 013/16 () |
Field of
Search: |
;128/284,287,29R,296 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Yasko; John D.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Sprunger; Powell L.
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 634,578, filed Nov.
24, 1975 and now abandoned.
Claims
I claim:
1. A disposable diaper, comprising:
an absorbent pad assembly having a pair of side edges, an absorbent
pad having a pair of side edges and a pair of end edges connecting
the side edges, a fluid impervious backing sheet covering a back
surface of said pad and having at least one end section extending
past one end edge of the pad and defining an end edge of the pad
assembly, with said end section extending between side edges of the
pad assembly, said pad assembly having a fluid pervious top sheet
covering a front surface of the pad, and a separate segment of
fluid impervious material overlying said end section of the backing
sheet and extending substantially between the side edges of the pad
assembly, said segment extending inwardly from the end edge of the
pad assembly toward the longitudinal center of the diaper and
overlying an end portion of the top sheet and pad adjacent said one
end edge of the pad to prevent fluid leakage from the end of the
pad, said segment being secured to the underlying portion of the
pad assembly substantially throughout the lateral and longitudinal
dimensions of the segment.
2. The diaper of claim 1 wherein said top sheet extends to the end
edge of the pad assembly, and in which said segment is secured to
an outer surface of the top sheet substantially throughout the
lateral and longitudinal dimensions of said segment.
3. The diaper of claim 1 wherein said segment is made of a
thermoplastic material and is sealed to the underlying portion of
the diaper.
4. The diaper of claim 1 wherein said backing sheet includes
lateral side margins folded over and secured to the front of the
diaper.
5. The diaper of claim 4 wherein a portion of the backing sheet
side margins overlie side margins of said segment.
6. The diaper of claim 1 wherein the side edges of the pad are
located adjacent the side edges of the pad assembly.
7. The diaper of claim 1 including a plurality of longitudinally
extending folds defining a box-pleat configuration of the diaper.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to absorbent articles, and more
particularly to disposable diapers.
In recent years, diapers of the disposable type have come into
widespread use due to convenience of parents, since such diapers
may be discarded after a single use. Although in many respects
satisfactory for their intended purpose, a recurrent problem
encountered in such diapers has been leaking or wicking of urine
from end edges of the diapers. Placement of fluid barriers inside
the diaper ends does not totally solve this difficulty, since a top
sheet of the diaper located over such barriers wicks urine past the
barriers, and causes leakage from the diaper ends. Also, it may be
relatively difficult to fold an end of a backing sheet in the
diaper over the top of the diaper during the manufacturing
procedure depending upon the manufacturing equipment used.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A principal feature of the present invention is the provision of a
disposable diaper of simplified construction to prevent leakage at
ends of the diaper.
The diaper of the present invention comprises, an absorbent pad
assembly having a pair of side edges, and an absorbent pad having a
pair of side edges and a pair of end edges connecting the side
edges. The pad assembly has a fluid impervious backing sheet
covering a back surface of the pad and having at least one end
section extending past one end edge of the pad and defining an end
edge of the pad assembly, with the end section extending
substantially between side edges of the pad assembly. The pad
assembly has a fluid pervious top sheet covering a front surface of
the pad, and a separate segment of fluid impervious material
overlying the end section of the backing sheet and extending
substantially between the side edges of the pad assembly. The
segment extends inwardly from the end edge of the pad assembly
toward the longitudinal center of the diaper and overlies an end
portion of the top sheet and pad adjacent the one end edge of the
pad. The segment is secured to the underlying portion of the pad
assembly substantially throughout the lateral and longitudinal
dimensions of the segment.
A feature of the present invention is that the end section of the
backing sheet and the segment of fluid impervious material provides
a barrier at the end of the diaper to prevent leakage of urine from
the diaper.
Another feature of the present invention is that the segment of
fluid impervious material covers an end portion of the top sheet
and prevents the top sheet from wicking urine over the segment.
Yet another feature of the invention is that the diaper of the
present invention may be made in a simplified manner during the
manufacturing procedure.
Further features will become more fully apparent in the following
description of the embodiments of this invention and from the
appended claims.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a disposable diaper of the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially as
indicated along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the diaper of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the diaper of FIG. 1 as
folded into a box-pleat configuration.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a disposable diaper
generally designated 10 having an absorbent pad assembly 12. As
illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the pad assembly 12 has a pair of side
edges 14a and 14b, and a pair of end edges 16a and 16b connecting
the side edges 14a and b. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the pad
assembly 12 has an absorbent pad 18, a fluid impervious backing
sheet 20, such as polyethylene, covering a back surface 22 of the
pad 18, and a fluid pervious top sheet 24 covering a front surface
26 of the pad 18. The pad 18 may be made of a back wadding sheet
28, a front wadding sheet 30, and an absorbent filler 31, such as
wood fluff, positioned between the back and front wadding sheets 28
and 30, respectively. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the diaper
10 may have a pair of conventional tape fasteners 32 for securing
the diaper about an infant during placement of the diaper. The
backing sheet 20 may have lateral side margins 34 folded over and
secured to the front of the pad assembly, as shown. The absorbent
pad 18 itself has a pair of side edges 36a and 36b, and a pair of
end edges 38a and 38b connecting the side edges 36a and b. As
shown, the side edges 36a and b of the pad 18 are located adjacent
the side edges 14a and b of the pad assembly 12, such that the side
margins 34 of the backing sheet 20 form a fluid impervious barrier
adjacent the sides of the diaper, while the end edges 38a and b of
the pad 18 are spaced from the end edges 16a and b of the pad
assembly 12.
As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the backing sheet 20 includes a
pair of end sections 40 extending past the end edges 38a and b of
the pad 18 adjacent each end of the diaper and defining the end
edges 16a and b of the pad assembly 12. Also, the top sheet 24
includes a pair of end sections 42 extending past the end edges 38a
and b of the pad 18 at both ends of the pad assembly 12, and in a
preferred form, the end sections 42 of the top sheet 24 extend to
the end edges 16a and b of the pad assembly 12, as shown.
In accordance with the present invention, the pad assembly 12 has a
pair of end segments 44 of a fluid impervious material, such as
polyethylene, located at both ends of the pad assembly 12. As
shown, the segments 44 extend substantially the width of the pad
assembly 12 between the side edges 14a and b. Also, the segments 44
extend from the end edges 16a and b of the pad assembly inwardly
toward the lateral central region of the pad assembly 12, with an
inner portion 46 of the segments 44 overlying an end portion 48 of
the pad 18, in addition to the top sheet 24 and the backing sheet
sections 40. The segments 44 are preferably secured or laminated
substantially throughout their lateral and longitudinal dimensions
to the underlying portion of the pad assembly 12, in this case the
top sheet 24. The segments 44 may be secured to the diaper by
adhesive, or may be heat sealed to bond the segments to the top
sheet where a thermoplastic material, such as polyethylene, is used
for the segments 44.
The fluid impervious segments 44 serve as a barrier at the ends of
the absorbent pad 18 to prevent urine wicking and leakage from the
ends of the pad 18. Also, the segments 44 are bonded to the outer
surface of the top sheet 24, such that the top sheet 24 is
prevented from wicking urine over the outside of the segments 44.
As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the lateral side margins 34 of the
backing sheet 20 may be folded over the front surface of the fluid
impervious segments 44, such that the side margins 34 and segments
44 provide a fluid impervious barrier extending completely around
the sides of the absorbent pad 18. In addition, the segments may be
positioned over the top of the diapers during the manufacture
procedure, thus eliminating the necessity for folding over ends of
the backing sheet to form an end barrier and simplifying the
procedure.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4, the flat diaper may be folded
along a plurality of longitudinally extending fold lines a, b, c,
and d to form a box-pleat configuration of the diaper, as shown in
FIG. 4. The box-pleat diaper has a longitudinally extending central
panel A, a pair of first panels B and C extending from and
overlying the front surface of the central panel A and a pair of
second panels D and E extending from and overlying the first panels
B and C.
The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of
understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be
understood therefrom, as modifications will be obvious to those
skilled in the art.
* * * * *